Shelburne Falls Iron Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Warren through truss bridge over Deerfield River on Bridge Street in Buckland
- Location
- Shelburne Falls, Franklin County, Massachusetts
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1890; rehabilitated 1994
- Builders
- - Edward S. Shaw of Boston, Massachusetts (Engineer)
- R.F. Hawkins Iron Works of Springfield, Massachusetts (Fabricators)
- Vermont Construction Co. of St. Albans, Vermont (Contractors)
- Design
- Double intersection Warren through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 102.7 ft.
Total length: 316.0 ft.
Deck width: 20.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 11.1 ft.
- Recognition
- Listed as a contributing resource to the Shelburne Falls Historic District
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.60366, -72.74070 (decimal degrees)
42°36'13" N, 72°44'27" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/685335/4719278 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Shelburne Falls
- Average daily traffic (as of 2018)
- 5,950
- Inventory numbers
- MA B28022 (Massachusetts bridge number)
BH 19281 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of September 2018)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 10 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- July 27, 2020: New photos from Nick Boppel
- March 29, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- August 10, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Riveted"
- August 30, 2011: New Street View added by Ben Tate
- August 30, 2011: Updated by Nathan Holth: Corrected Name
- August 30, 2011: Updated by Tony Dillon: Locally known as the Bridge of Flowers
- August 28, 2011: New video from Nathan Holth
- October 25, 2010: New photos from Doug Kerr
Sources
- Doug Kerr
- Nathan Holth
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Ben Tate - benji5221 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- HAER MA-96 - Shelburne Falls Bridge Spanning the Deerfleld River on Bridge Street
- Richard Doody
- Nick Boppel - nickboppel01 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
In 1993 a debate took place on whether to replace it or renovate it. Shelburne Falls favored saving it while Buckland across the river favored replacement. The tourist minded Shelburne Falls known for the nearby famous Bridge of Flowers fortunately won out.
The Iron Bridge has become a social center for the the town. The June 6, 2020 Black Lives Matter Demonstration was held on the bridge. See several slides in for photos of the event. https://www.recorder.com/We-are-here-for-justice-34649360
Recent social events. Community Break Bread Dinner held on span. https://www.recorder.com/b1-West-County-Notebook-shelburne-2...
This bridge appears to have been the location for several outdoor scenes of the Robert Downey, Jr. / Robert Duvall film "The Judge" from 2014.
Sorry, the video I posted here has a misleading title. This bridge is locally known as the Iron Bridge. The video I added shows flood waters assaulting the Iron Bridge. The reason the video is titled Bridge of Flowers is because what you can't see in the video is a concrete arch bridge called Bridge of Flowers which is completely submerged under the floodwaters. For clarity, I have added the Bridge of Flowers to the website as well, since it was not listed before.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ma/franklin/B280220KUMHDNBI/
The Iron Bridge proves that even small heritage spans can become important to a town's culture. Another nonpolitical even is the annual Moonlight Madness held before Christmas. https://www.recorder.com/Streets-mobbed-for-Moonlight-Magic-...